Chapter 135

"You..."

Juter looked at Ruen.

"You're an elf?"

Ruen flinched, her shoulders giving a slight tremor at his words.

"No need to be alarmed."

At her reaction, Juter actually waved a hand and stepped back.

"Sorry, but there's nothing more I can do with elves. You lot don't interest me anymore."

"... You've done enough? What did you do?"

"What do you think?"

He shrugged as though it were nothing.

"You... captured elves and experimented on them?!"

Goun shouted at him.

"Elves weren't the only ones I captured... I've used most of the other races in experiments too. Oh, but don't feel too left out. I used more elves than anything except humans."

"What the fuck are you talking about...?!"

"Hmm? Weren't you upset because I just said I wouldn't use you in my experiments?"

How to describe Juter Boas's first impression?

Talkative.

But he didn't seem naturally chatty. It was like watching someone high on drugs. The conversation kept going, yet his responses were always a little off the mark.

'Well... with all the crazy shit he does, there's no way he's right in the head.'

The most important thing now was to work out what Juter could do.

'Summoning classes generally have lower personal stats.'

About seven paces separated them. With [Sprint], Woojin could easily reach him.

But he wasn't sure. Could he move faster than Juter could use his arts?

'Can I risk it?'

His mind was inevitably a tangle of possibilities.

THUD.

Just then, as though aware of his dilemma, Juter lightly tapped the floor with his staff.

[GRRRR...]

[GRRR...]

Dragonfang Soldiers began rising behind him. Five in all.

THUD. THUD. THUD.

No—six.

The Dragonfang Soldier they had first encountered took up position behind the party, leaving both ends of the single passage blocked.

'... Damn it.'

He needed time.

"What are you doing in a labyrinth that's lost its power?"

Woojin spoke to him to buy time to devise a new plan.

"A labyrinth that's lost its power...? Ah, I suppose you might think that. All the monsters inside are gone, after all."

It was a question Woojin had asked only because he had no better choice, but Juter showed an unexpected interest.

"Wow, you really lucked out, didn't you?"

"... What do you mean?"

"If I hadn't come here first, you might already be dead."

He covered his mouth and snickered, as though he alone knew some tremendous secret.

"A dragon dying doesn't make a labyrinth lose its power. Who on earth started that ridiculous rumor?"

He shook his head.

"A labyrinth is still a dungeon. It's created by a rift. This isn't the dragon's dungeon. The dragon merely used this place."

"That can't be... If the labyrinth were intact, there would have to be monsters. But there haven't been any monsters alive here for years."

"Of course not."

Though he stood some distance away, Juter cupped his mouth and whispered as if sharing a secret in their ears.

"I killed them all."

Woojin felt his body go cold.

"By the way... you seem to know me. But I don't know you."

A feeble voice. Vacant, seemingly unfocused eyes. A frail body.

Yet every word out of his mouth pressed terror down on Woojin's mind.

"Shouldn't you at least introduce yourselves first?"

Woojin swallowed and glanced to the side. Ruen and Irurin were also watching Juter with rigid, tense faces.

"Don't you agree?"

Woojin let out a long breath.

Six Dragonfang Soldiers. Every one of them a monster. And the man commanding such monsters had to be an even greater monster himself.

That was precisely why Woojin had to keep a cool head.

"Well, never mind. Don't bother if you don't want to. I was going to..."

Just as Juter began to raise his staff, Woojin spoke.

"I can help you."

"... What?"

"I'll be honest. I was testing you just now. I needed to see how much you knew about the labyrinth."

Footsteps sounded as Woojin approached Juter.

"W-wait...!"

Startled, Ruen tried to stop him, but he raised a hand, gesturing for her to stand back.

"And when you said the dragon merely used this place, I knew. If you didn't know that, you'd have left after clearing out the monsters."

Woojin stopped in front of Juter.

[GRRR...]

The Dragonfang Soldiers lowered themselves as though ready to leap at him at any moment.

"You came for the dragon's treasure hidden in the labyrinth, didn't you?"

Juter's face twisted strangely at the question.

"You too?"

"Yes. Me too."

A bead of sweat trickled down Woojin's temple.

He couldn't mistake those occasionally childlike reactions for friendliness. It felt like walking on thin ice. There was no telling when the lunatic before him would turn on him.

Steel rasped as Woojin showed him the sword he held.

"From what I've heard, a Dragon Knight's arms and armor are here. That's what I've come for."

"A Dragon Knight... Right. There is a story like that."

Juter nodded.

"Don't tell me... you have the burial chamber key?"

"I don't have it. But I know where it is."

"Oh...? Where?"

"I can't tell you that. It might be the only thing keeping me alive."

"Heh heh."

Juter clapped as though conceding the point.

"But what if I'm after the same Dragon Knight's equipment you are? Does that make us enemies?"

Woojin swallowed hard without realizing it.

"Fortunately, we can be partners. I'm not after the Dragon Knight's equipment. What would someone who waves a staff around want with sharp blades?"

Unlike the tense Woojin, Juter playfully took his arm and linked it with his own, grinning.

'... Did that somehow work?'

Everything Woojin knew about the labyrinth came down to Bensina's claim that it contained a Dragon Knight's arms and armor. He had gambled on the assumption that an alchemist, at least, wouldn't be looking for weapons. Fortunately, just as Juter had said, it seemed to have paid off.

Then came the real reason behind Juter's words.

"Dragons, you see, have knowledge surpassing any sage in the world. Not just magic, but alchemy, astronomy, even prophecy."

"And?"

"And on top of knowing all that, the bastards live so damn long. They got too bored staying holed up in their lairs, never showing themselves to the world."

Juter grinned.

"So they started making toys."

"... Toys?"

"And among the things Bensina made, there's something especially interesting."

Juter took something from inside his clothes, opened its lid, and inhaled deeply, as though taking a drug.

Well, it was hardly strange. He had already been making hallucinogens in the game, which was effectively decades earlier.

"The Black Dragon was an exceptional mage and alchemist. Ahh... you should have seen his spell, Dark Zone... That wasn't merely magic. It was a magnificent work incorporating alchemy!"

For some reason, he shouted with excitement.

"Mana normally has no weight, you know? But he transformed it through alchemy into black fog, and then..."

"So what's in the burial chamber?"

Interrupted in the middle of his enthusiastic explanation, Juter looked at Woojin and pouted in displeasure.

Woojin realized his mistake. The words had slipped out as he listened to the man's rambling chatter, which he had little desire to hear.

"Black Opus."

But contrary to Woojin's fears, Juter answered with a smile instead.

"You were that curious? Heh heh."

'... Thank goodness he's insane.'

"It's a formula that can transmute all sorts of things," Juter said, his body trembling.

"It can produce tens of thousands of results, or conversely, achieve just one single result."

Folding his fingers down one by one, he began listing what were presumably the things this [Black Opus] could do.

"Manipulation, growth, debilitation, revival..."

Then he rose slightly onto his toes and spoke into Woojin's ear.

"Death."

His breath against Woojin's ear sent a shiver over him, and he stepped back.

"Aren't you curious? Just how far a dragon's alchemy can go?"

"... Not particularly. If it isn't a sword, I'm not very interested."

"Good. Very good. We want different things, so there's no reason to fight... We can share nicely and each take what we want. Right?"

Juter poked Woojin in the ribs.

"Now, then. Time to find the key. Where is it?"

His eyes changed in an instant.

"I asked where it is."

A chill ran through Woojin. The face that had been full of mischief only moments earlier now brimmed with murderous intent.

"... Wait."

Woojin strode to the burial chamber door. He began scraping at a random spot on the wall with his sword. Once he had made a decent-sized crevice, he took the key from inside his clothes and showed it to Juter.

"What? It really was there? But I've been here so many times!"

"Open it yourself if you don't believe me."

Woojin tossed him the key.

CLICK.

Juter's eyes sparkled at the sound of the burial chamber unlocking. The Dragonfang Soldiers opened the door.

"Ohhh..."

An exclamation of pure wonder. And he wasn't the only one.

"This is... the dragon's treasury?"

Brilliant white light spilled into the dark underground passage.

All manner of arms and armor lay piled along one wall, while dozens upon dozens—hundreds—of books lined the opposite side. And that wasn't all. There were gems, treasures of every kind, and even runestones.

'If I take these...'

Even as everyone stood spellbound by the staggering wealth, Woojin had only one thing on his mind.

'Could I take him down?'

'This isn't enough.'

He needed a more certain way.

"Come on, let's look around to our hearts' content. We won't be after the same things anyway. You don't have an alchemist in your party, do you?"

"Don't worry. We don't."

"Right, right. A swordsman, an archer, a mage, and one half-crippled bastard. Perfect."

Goun's expression hardened at Juter's words. Woojin pressed a firm hand on Goun's shoulder.

"Goun, first see if there's any medicine that can heal your wounds."

"... Understood."

"You two, take whatever you need as well."

"What are you planning to do?"

"What else? We've come all this way. I might as well look around too."

Woojin began striding forward nonchalantly, following Juter.

He recalled something that had happened in the other world. Something impossible in the game, but possible here.

Magic.

Though unable to use magic, he had successfully cast [Fos Nara], the spell from the spellbook he had seen in the [Alchemist’s Laboratory].

Why?

It was probably because, unlike a game, reality didn't have rigidly fixed stats and Traits.

'In the game, I needed a Mana stat to cast magic. But here, even without that stat, I could absorb Ratan's mana and use it.'

Supernatural powers could be used without the corresponding stats or Traits. That was what made this other world unique.

But if he hadn't known the spell [Fos Nara] itself, it would have been impossible even with mana.

'That must mean I need to have done it at least once.'

Woojin slowly drew a breath.

Certainly, Juter Boas was the only alchemist here.

'But I never said I'd never used alchemy.'

Woojin had made [Malfran Juice] in the game. The minimum requirement had been met.

Tense, Woojin clenched his fist tightly.

'I'll steal Black Opus out from under him.'

That was his real plan.